Backup and Restore MySQL database using KubeStash

KubeStash allows you to backup and restore MySQL databases. It supports backups for MySQL instances running in Standalone, Group Replication, and InnoDB cluster configurations. KubeStash makes managing your MySQL backups and restorations more straightforward and efficient.

This guide will give you how you can take backup and restore your MySQL databases using Kubestash.

Before You Begin

At first, you need to have a Kubernetes cluster, and the kubectl command-line tool must be configured to communicate with your cluster. If you do not already have a cluster, you can create one by using Minikube or Kind.
Install KubeDB in your cluster following the steps here.
Install KubeStash in your cluster following the steps here.
Install KubeStash kubectl plugin following the steps here.
If you are not familiar with how KubeStash backup and restore MySQL databases, please check the following guide here.

You should be familiar with the following KubeStash concepts:

To keep everything isolated, we are going to use a separate namespace called demo throughout this tutorial.

$ kubectl create ns demo
namespace/demo created

Note: YAML files used in this tutorial are stored in docs/guides/mysql/backup/kubestash/logical/examples directory of kubedb/docs repository.

Backup MySQL

KubeStash supports backups for MySQL instances across different configurations, including Standalone, Group Replication, and InnoDB Cluster setups. In this demonstration, we’ll focus on a MySQL database using Group Replication. The backup and restore process is similar for Standalone and InnoDB Cluster configurations as well.

This section will demonstrate how to backup a MySQL database. Here, we are going to deploy a MySQL database using KubeDB. Then, we are going to backup this database into a GCS bucket. Finally, we are going to restore the backup up data into another MySQL database.

Deploy Sample MySQL Database

Let’s deploy a sample MySQL database and insert some data into it.

Create MySQL CR:

Below is the YAML of a sample MySQL CRD that we are going to create for this tutorial:

apiVersion: kubedb.com/v1
kind: MySQL
metadata:
  name: sample-mysql
  namespace: demo
spec:
  version: "8.2.0"
  replicas: 3
  topology:
    mode: GroupReplication  
  storageType: Durable
  storage:
    accessModes:
      - ReadWriteOnce
    resources:
      requests:
        storage: 50Mi
  deletionPolicy: WipeOut

Here,

.spec.topology specifies about the clustering configuration of MySQL.
.Spec.topology.mode specifies the mode of MySQL Cluster. During the demonstration we consider to use GroupReplication.

Create the above MySQL CR,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2024.9.30/docs/guides/mysql/backup/kubestash/logical/examples/sample-mysql.yaml
mysql.kubedb.com/sample-mysql created

KubeDB will deploy a MySQL database according to the above specification. It will also create the necessary Secrets and Services to access the database.

Let’s check if the database is ready to use,

$ kubectl get mysqls.kubedb.com -n demo
NAME           VERSION   STATUS    AGE
sample-mysql   8.2.0     Ready     4m22s

The database is Ready. Verify that KubeDB has created a Secret and a Service for this database using the following commands,

$ kubectl get secret -n demo -l=app.kubernetes.io/instance=sample-mysql 
NAME                TYPE     DATA   AGE
sample-mysql-auth   Opaque   2      4m58s

$ kubectl get service -n demo -l=app.kubernetes.io/instance=sample-mysql
NAME                   TYPE        CLUSTER-IP      EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)    AGE
sample-mysql           ClusterIP   10.96.55.61     <none>        3306/TCP   97s
sample-mysql-pods      ClusterIP   None            <none>        3306/TCP   97s
sample-mysql-standby   ClusterIP   10.96.211.186   <none>        3306/TCP   97

Here, we have to use service sample-mysql and secret sample-mysql-auth to connect with the database. KubeDB creates an AppBinding CR that holds the necessary information to connect with the database.

Verify AppBinding:

Verify that the AppBinding has been created successfully using the following command,

$ kubectl get appbindings -n demo
NAME           AGE
sample-mysql   9m24s

Let’s check the YAML of the above AppBinding,

$ kubectl get appbindings -n demo sample-mysql -o yaml

apiVersion: appcatalog.appscode.com/v1alpha1
kind: AppBinding
metadata:
  labels:
    app.kubernetes.io/component: database
    app.kubernetes.io/instance: sample-mysql
    app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: kubedb.com
    app.kubernetes.io/name: mysqls.kubedb.com
  name: sample-mysql
  namespace: demo
  ownerReferences:
  - apiVersion: kubedb.com/v1
    blockOwnerDeletion: true
    controller: true
    kind: MySQL
    name: sample-mysql
    uid: edde3e8b-7775-4f91-85a9-4ba4b96315f7
  resourceVersion: "5126"
  uid: 86c9a149-f8ab-44c4-947f-5f9b402aad6c
spec:
  appRef:
    apiGroup: kubedb.com
    kind: MySQL
    name: sample-mysql
    namespace: demo
  clientConfig:
    service:
      name: sample-mysql
      path: /
      port: 3306
      scheme: tcp
    url: tcp(sample-mysql.demo.svc:3306)/
    ...
    ...
  secret:
    name: sample-mysql-auth
  type: kubedb.com/mysql
  version: 8.2.0

KubeStash uses the AppBinding CR to connect with the target database. It requires the following two fields to set in AppBinding’s .spec section.

.spec.clientConfig.service.name specifies the name of the Service that connects to the database.
.spec.secret specifies the name of the Secret that holds necessary credentials to access the database.
spec.type specifies the types of the app that this AppBinding is pointing to. KubeDB generated AppBinding follows the following format: <app group>/<app resource type>.

Insert Sample Data:

Now, we are going to exec into the database pod and create some sample data. At first, find out the database Pod using the following command,

$ kubectl get pods -n demo --selector="app.kubernetes.io/instance=sample-mysql"
NAME             READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
sample-mysql-0   2/2     Running   0          2m41s
sample-mysql-1   2/2     Running   0          2m35s
sample-mysql-2   2/2     Running   0          2m29s

And copy the username and password of the root user to access into mysql shell.

$ kubectl get secret -n demo  sample-mysql-auth -o jsonpath='{.data.username}'| base64 -d
root⏎

$ kubectl get secret -n demo  sample-mysql-auth -o jsonpath='{.data.password}'| base64 -d
DZfmUZd14fNEEOU4⏎

Now, Lets exec into the Pod to enter into mysql shell and create a database and a table,

$ kubectl exec -it -n demo sample-mysql-0 -- mysql --user=root --password=DZfmUZd14fNEEOU4
Defaulted container "mysql" out of: mysql, mysql-init (init)
mysql: [Warning] Using a password on the command line interface can be insecure.
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 977
Server version: 8.2.0 MySQL Community Server - GPL

Copyright (c) 2000, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

mysql> CREATE DATABASE playground;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.01 sec)

mysql> SHOW DATABASES;
+--------------------+
| Database           |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| mysql              |
| performance_schema |
| playground         |
| sys                |
+--------------------+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> CREATE TABLE playground.equipment ( id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, type VARCHAR(50), quant INT, color VARCHAR(25), PRIMARY KEY(id));
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)

mysql> SHOW TABLES IN playground;
+----------------------+
| Tables_in_playground |
+----------------------+
| equipment            |
+----------------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)

mysql> INSERT INTO playground.equipment (type, quant, color) VALUES ("slide", 2, "blue");
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.01 sec)

mysql> SELECT * FROM playground.equipment;
+----+-------+-------+-------+
| id | type  | quant | color |
+----+-------+-------+-------+
|  1 | slide |     2 | blue  |
+----+-------+-------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> exit
Bye

Now, we are ready to backup the database.

Prepare Backend

We are going to store our backed up data into a GCS bucket. We have to create a Secret with necessary credentials and a BackupStorage CR to use this backend. If you want to use a different backend, please read the respective backend configuration doc from here.

Create Secret:

Let’s create a secret called gcs-secret with access credentials to our desired GCS bucket,

$ echo -n '<your-project-id>' > GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID
$ cat /path/to/downloaded-sa-key.json > GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON_KEY
$ kubectl create secret generic -n demo gcs-secret \
    --from-file=./GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID \
    --from-file=./GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON_KEY
secret/gcs-secret created

Create BackupStorage:

Now, create a BackupStorage using this secret. Below is the YAML of BackupStorage CR we are going to create,

apiVersion: storage.kubestash.com/v1alpha1
kind: BackupStorage
metadata:
  name: gcs-storage
  namespace: demo
spec:
  storage:
    provider: gcs
    gcs:
      bucket: kubestash-qa
      prefix: demo
      secretName: gcs-secret
  usagePolicy:
    allowedNamespaces:
      from: All
  default: true
  deletionPolicy: Delete

Let’s create the BackupStorage we have shown above,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2024.9.30/docs/guides/mysql/backup/kubestash/logical/examples/backupstorage.yaml
backupstorage.storage.kubestash.com/gcs-storage created

Now, we are ready to backup our database to our desired backend.

Create RetentionPolicy:

Now, let’s create a RetentionPolicy to specify how the old Snapshots should be cleaned up.

Below is the YAML of the RetentionPolicy object that we are going to create,

apiVersion: storage.kubestash.com/v1alpha1
kind: RetentionPolicy
metadata:
  name: demo-retention
  namespace: demo
spec:
  default: true
  failedSnapshots:
    last: 2
  maxRetentionPeriod: 2mo
  successfulSnapshots:
    last: 5
  usagePolicy:
    allowedNamespaces:
      from: All

Let’s create the above RetentionPolicy,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2024.9.30/docs/guides/mysql/backup/kubestash/logical/examples/retentionpolicy.yaml
retentionpolicy.storage.kubestash.com/demo-retention created

Backup

We have to create a BackupConfiguration targeting respective sample-mysql MySQL database. Then, KubeStash will create a CronJob for each session to take periodic backup of that database.

At first, we need to create a secret with a Restic password for backup data encryption.

Create Secret:

Let’s create a secret called encrypt-secret with the Restic password,

$ echo -n 'changeit' > RESTIC_PASSWORD
$ kubectl create secret generic -n demo encrypt-secret \
    --from-file=./RESTIC_PASSWORD
secret "encrypt-secret" created

Create BackupConfiguration:

Below is the YAML for BackupConfiguration CR to backup the sample-mysql database that we have deployed earlier,

apiVersion: core.kubestash.com/v1alpha1
kind: BackupConfiguration
metadata:
  name: sample-mysql-backup
  namespace: demo
spec:
  target:
    apiGroup: kubedb.com
    kind: MySQL
    namespace: demo
    name: sample-mysql
  backends:
    - name: gcs-backend
      storageRef:
        namespace: demo
        name: gcs-storage
      retentionPolicy:
        name: demo-retention
        namespace: demo
  sessions:
    - name: frequent-backup
      scheduler:
        schedule: "*/5 * * * *"
        jobTemplate:
          backoffLimit: 1
      repositories:
        - name: gcs-mysql-repo
          backend: gcs-backend
          directory: /mysql
          encryptionSecret:
            name: encrypt-secret
            namespace: demo
      addon:
        name: mysql-addon
        tasks:
          - name: logical-backup

.spec.sessions[*].schedule specifies that we want to backup the database at 5 minutes interval.
.spec.target refers to the targeted sample-mysql MySQL database that we created earlier.

Let’s create the BackupConfiguration CR that we have shown above,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2024.9.30/docs/guides/mysql/backup/kubestash/logical/examples/backupconfiguration.yaml
backupconfiguration.core.kubestash.com/sample-mysql-backup created

Verify Backup Setup Successful

If everything goes well, the phase of the BackupConfiguration should be Ready. The Ready phase indicates that the backup setup is successful. Let’s verify the Phase of the BackupConfiguration,

$ kubectl get backupconfiguration -n demo
NAME                  PHASE   PAUSED   AGE
sample-mysql-backup   Ready            2m50s

Additionally, we can verify that the Repository specified in the BackupConfiguration has been created using the following command,

$ kubectl get repo -n demo
NAME               INTEGRITY   SNAPSHOT-COUNT   SIZE     PHASE   LAST-SUCCESSFUL-BACKUP   AGE
gcs-mysql-repo                 0                0 B      Ready                            3m

KubeStash keeps the backup for Repository YAMLs. If we navigate to the GCS bucket, we will see the Repository YAML stored in the demo/mysql directory.

Verify CronJob:

It will also create a CronJob with the schedule specified in spec.sessions[*].scheduler.schedule field of BackupConfiguration CR.

Verify that the CronJob has been created using the following command,

$ kubectl get cronjob -n demo
NAME                                          SCHEDULE      SUSPEND   ACTIVE   LAST SCHEDULE   AGE
trigger-sample-mysql-backup-frequent-backup   */5 * * * *             0        2m45s           3m25s

Verify BackupSession:

KubeStash triggers an instant backup as soon as the BackupConfiguration is ready. After that, backups are scheduled according to the specified schedule.

$ kubectl get backupsession -n demo -w

NAME                                             INVOKER-TYPE          INVOKER-NAME           PHASE       DURATION   AGE
sample-mysql-backup-frequent-backup-1724065200   BackupConfiguration   sample-mysql-backup    Succeeded              7m22s

We can see from the above output that the backup session has succeeded. Now, we are going to verify whether the backed up data has been stored in the backend.

Verify Backup:

Once a backup is complete, KubeStash will update the respective Repository CR to reflect the backup. Check that the repository sample-mysql-backup has been updated by the following command,

$ kubectl get repository -n demo gcs-mysql-repo
NAME                    INTEGRITY   SNAPSHOT-COUNT   SIZE    PHASE   LAST-SUCCESSFUL-BACKUP   AGE
gcs-mysql-repo          true        1                806 B   Ready   8m27s                    9m18s

At this moment we have one Snapshot. Run the following command to check the respective Snapshot which represents the state of a backup run for an application.

$ kubectl get snapshots -n demo -l=kubestash.com/repo-name=gcs-mysql-repo
NAME                                                            REPOSITORY            SESSION           SNAPSHOT-TIME          DELETION-POLICY   PHASE       AGE
gcs-mysql-repo-sample-mysql-backup-frequent-backup-1724065200   gcs-mysql-repo        frequent-backup   2024-01-23T13:10:54Z   Delete            Succeeded   16h

Note: KubeStash creates a Snapshot with the following labels:
kubestash.com/app-ref-kind: <target-kind>
kubestash.com/app-ref-name: <target-name>
kubestash.com/app-ref-namespace: <target-namespace>
kubestash.com/repo-name: <repository-name>
These labels can be used to watch only the Snapshots related to our target Database or Repository.

If we check the YAML of the Snapshot, we can find the information about the backed up components of the Database.

$ kubectl get snapshots -n demo gcs-mysql-repo-sample-mysql-backup-frequent-backup-1724065200 -oyaml

apiVersion: storage.kubestash.com/v1alpha1
kind: Snapshot
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: "2024-08-19T12:10:00Z"
  finalizers:
  - kubestash.com/cleanup
  generation: 1
  labels:
    kubestash.com/app-ref-kind: MySQL
    kubestash.com/app-ref-name: sample-mysql
    kubestash.com/app-ref-namespace: demo
    kubestash.com/repo-name: gcs-mysql-repo
  annotations:
    kubedb.com/db-version: 8.2.0
  name: gcs-mysql-repo-sample-mysql-backup-frequent-backup-1724065200
  namespace: demo
  ownerReferences:
  - apiVersion: storage.kubestash.com/v1alpha1
    blockOwnerDeletion: true
    controller: true
    kind: Repository
    name: gcs-mysql-repo
    uid: 036a2605-0dcc-43bd-a921-363d5c3e8cf0
  resourceVersion: "33742"
  uid: d7f14919-4c31-4b46-84e9-0a75f303ad92
spec:
  appRef:
    apiGroup: kubedb.com
    kind: MySQL
    name: sample-mysql
    namespace: demo
  backupSession: sample-mysql-backup-frequent-backup-1724065200
  deletionPolicy: Delete
  repository: gcs-mysql-repo
  session: frequent-backup
  snapshotID: 01J6V4P4J0R33C8EG0JWK82118
  type: FullBackup
  version: v1
status:
  components:
    dump:
      driver: Restic
      duration: 7.472499073s
      integrity: true
      path: repository/v1/frequent-backup/dump
      phase: Succeeded
      resticStats:
      - hostPath: dumpfile.sql
        id: fbab3af5c38f51b7aa9096799d8ce4b71ea0092dd8297526fed0adbd9f62f3f1
        size: 3.657 MiB
        uploaded: 1.036 MiB
      size: 1.456 MiB
  ...

KubeStash uses the mysqldump command to take backups of target MySQL databases. Therefore, the component name for logical backups is set as dump.

Now, if we navigate to the GCS bucket, we will see the backed up data stored in the demo/mysql/repository/v1/frequent-backup/dump directory. KubeStash also keeps the backup for Snapshot YAMLs, which can be found in the demo/dep/snapshots directory.

Note: KubeStash stores all dumped data encrypted in the backup directory, meaning it remains unreadable until decrypted.

Restore

In this section, we are going to restore the database from the backup we have taken in the previous section. We are going to deploy a new database and initialize it from the backup.

Deploy Restored Database:

Now, we have to deploy the restored database similarly as we have deployed the original sample-mysql database. However, this time there will be the following differences:

We are going to specify .spec.init.waitForInitialRestore field that tells KubeDB to wait for first restore to complete before marking this database is ready to use.

Below is the YAML for MySQL CRD we are going deploy to initialize from backup,

apiVersion: kubedb.com/v1
kind: MySQL
metadata:
  name: restored-mysql
  namespace: demo
spec:
  init:
    waitForInitialRestore: true
  version: "8.2.0"
  replicas: 3
  topology:
    mode: GroupReplication
  storageType: Durable
  storage:
    accessModes:
      - ReadWriteOnce
    resources:
      requests:
        storage: 50Mi
  deletionPolicy: WipeOut

Let’s create the above database,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2024.9.30/docs/guides/mysql/backup/kubestash/logical/examples/restored-mysql.yaml
mysql.kubedb.com/restored-mysql created

If you check the database status, you will see it is stuck in Provisioning state.

$ kubectl get my -n demo restored-mysql
NAME             VERSION   STATUS         AGE
restored-mysql   8.2.0     Provisioning   61s

Create RestoreSession:

Now, we need to create a RestoreSession CRD pointing to targeted MySQL database.

Below, is the contents of YAML file of the RestoreSession object that we are going to create to restore backed up data into the newly created database provisioned by MySQL object named restored-mysql.

apiVersion: core.kubestash.com/v1alpha1
kind: RestoreSession
metadata:
  name: restore-sample-mysql
  namespace: demo
spec:
  target:
    apiGroup: kubedb.com
    kind: MySQL
    namespace: demo
    name: restored-mysql
  dataSource:
    repository: gcs-mysql-repo
    snapshot: latest
    encryptionSecret:
      name: encrypt-secret
      namespace: demo
  addon:
    name: mysql-addon
    tasks:
      - name: logical-backup-restore

Here,

.spec.target refers to the newly created restored-mysql MySQL object to where we want to restore backup data.
.spec.dataSource.repository specifies the Repository object that holds the backed up data.
.spec.dataSource.snapshot specifies to restore from latest Snapshot.

Let’s create the RestoreSession CRD object we have shown above,

$ kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2024.9.30/docs/guides/mysql/backup/kubestash/logical/examples/restoresession.yaml
restoresession.core.kubestash.com/sample-mysql-restore created

Once, you have created the RestoreSession object, KubeStash will create restore Job. Run the following command to watch the phase of the RestoreSession object,

$ watch kubectl get restoresession -n demo
Every 2.0s: kubectl get restores... AppsCode-PC-03: Wed Aug 21 10:44:05 2024

NAME             REPOSITORY        FAILURE-POLICY   PHASE       DURATION   AGE
sample-restore   gcs-demo-repo                      Succeeded   3s         53s

The Succeeded phase means that the restore process has been completed successfully.

Verify Restored Data:

In this section, we are going to verify whether the desired data has been restored successfully. We are going to connect to the database server and check whether the database and the table we created earlier in the original database are restored.

At first, check if the database has gone into Ready state by the following command,

$ kubectl get my -n demo restored-mysql
NAME             VERSION   STATUS  AGE
restored-mysql   8.2.0     Ready   34m

Now, find out the database Pod by the following command,

$ kubectl get pods -n demo --selector="app.kubernetes.io/instance=restored-mysql"
NAME               READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
restored-mysql-0   1/1     Running   0          39m

And then copy the user name and password of the root user to access into mysql shell.

$ kubectl get secret -n demo  restored-mysql-auth -o jsonpath='{.data.username}'| base64 -d
root

$ kubectl get secret -n demo  restored-mysql-auth -o jsonpath='{.data.password}'| base64 -d
QMm1hi0T*7QFz_yh

Now, let’s exec into the Pod to enter into mysql shell and verify restored data,

$ kubectl exec -it -n demo restored-mysql-0 -- mysql --user=root --password='QMm1hi0T*7QFz_yh'
Defaulted container "mysql" out of: mysql, mysql-coordinator, mysql-init (init)
mysql: [Warning] Using a password on the command line interface can be insecure.
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 243
Server version: 8.2.0 MySQL Community Server - GPL

Copyright (c) 2000, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

mysql> SHOW DATABASES;
+--------------------+
| Database           |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| mysql              |
| performance_schema |
| playground         |
| sys                |
+--------------------+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> SHOW TABLES IN playground;
+----------------------+
| Tables_in_playground |
+----------------------+
| equipment            |
+----------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> SELECT * FROM playground.equipment;
+----+-------+-------+-------+
| id | type  | quant | color |
+----+-------+-------+-------+
|  1 | slide |     2 | blue  |
+----+-------+-------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> exit
Bye

So, from the above output, we can see that the playground database and the equipment table we have created earlier in the original database and now, they are restored successfully.

Cleanup

To cleanup the Kubernetes resources created by this tutorial, run:

kubectl delete backupconfigurations.core.kubestash.com  -n demo sample-mysql-backup
kubectl delete restoresessions.core.kubestash.com -n demo restore-sample-mysql
kubectl delete retentionpolicies.storage.kubestash.com -n demo demo-retention
kubectl delete backupstorage -n demo gcs-storage
kubectl delete secret -n demo gcs-secret
kubectl delete secret -n demo encrypt-secret
kubectl delete my -n demo restored-mysql
kubectl delete my -n demo sample-mysql

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